Join us as we discuss fear and the things fear drives us to do.
The Remnant Church
Things That Go Bump in the Night - Todd Blanton
God, I thank you so much for this day truly. I'm so, so thankful to be able to gather with your saints. Lord, I pray, man, for everyone here. God, we are never gonna be at the same place at the same time. There's people that are distracted, sad, angry, upset, lonely, irritable, fearful, hurt, burdened, and God, those things want to stop us from hearing what you have for us. And, Lord, I just pray that you would bust through all distractions, soften stony hearts, bring to life-dried bones, do the things that you do, Father. There's people in here, God. Sometimes all of us just help our unbelief. That's our cry. I just pray that you would do that today. Lord, I pray that you would help me to preach your word and appreciate well, and I wouldn't get in the way, and I'll give you all the glory. In Jesus Christ, name me, pray, amen. How you guys doing today? (congregation cheering) Great. Well, hey, I'm Todd, I'm one of the pastors here, I'm very excited to see you, genuinely. Sometimes I just say it, don't mean it, I'm just kidding. Hi, I mean it today, so. So, I'm just gonna dive in. All right, with you, that work, yeah, thanks. So, despite, those are the no-me, this may be surprising, or like the way that I can come across on stage, but I'm actually, I was actually a pretty fearful kid. Like, I was not a very courageous kid. Maybe I'm still not, but I was pretty fearful. At least when I look back, I felt a lot of fear all the time. You know, when you're a kid, you don't know what anxiety is, you don't know what all that stuff is. You just know I'm afraid, right? Or you feel buzzy, you know the feeling I'm talking about? Yeah. Well, when I was a kid, I remember one of the first things that I was ever afraid of was Freddy Krueger. Anybody know Freddy Krueger? Anybody afraid of Freddy Krueger? Just me, you coward, like, everybody's like, I know him, but I'm not afraid of him, uh-huh. Anyway, I was scared to death of him. Honestly, still am a little. I remember watching some show when I was a kid, I have no idea, genuine, this is not made up. Like, he had like a, like a, tails from a crypt type show. Like, that's terrified me too, by the way, but where they would tell different stories in a somehow Freddy Krueger, this, I remember this, I've never looked it up, but this was real. And like, weird stuff would happen, and I remember this, I don't know what I'm telling you this part, this is kind of gross, but like, one of the stories is about a track guy, and then like, when he ran across, I still remember this. I've never talked to anyone about this. I wasn't supposed to watch these things. And when I ran across it, and you know, the ribbon, it like cut his head off. Exactly, I don't know why I told you that. Other than to make you see, that's a terrifying image when you're probably four, right? Now, just so you know, my parents didn't let me watch that stuff, but I didn't listen, and I would sneak around and want to watch those things. And honestly, I'm terrified, I mean, Freddy Krue's a terrifying guy, and the whole, you know, that's creepy song, one, two, three, see? You don't even want me to sing it. Kelly's like, stop, exactly, it's terrifying, and that's a terrifying song. (clears throat) You know, and you can't get away from it. You know, he's in your dreams, and everyone has to sleep, that's part of what makes him so scary, right? You can't be tough enough, even in the movies, like they try to stay up, you know? And then eventually, because we all do it, you fall asleep, so when you're a little kid, you're like, well, that's it, that's it. You know, I was that kid, you know, trying to stay awake. I've told this story, the second one, of another time I snuck and watched a movie, and there's a blog about this called Wherewolves, you can go read it, and it's much more eloquently told, but there's an old movie called Silver Bullet, and it's based on a Stephen King book, and it's about werewolves, okay? Now, I thought werewolves were cool. It's still kinda do, they're better than vampires, okay? Because vampires are dead people, I just wanna make that clear to you. So the people that like Twilight, and you like to Edward, I want you to understand, he's a dead person, you're like in a dead person, anyway. (clears throat) So in this movie, my dad told us all to go to bed, and I went to bed, and I snuck out, I still remember, 'cause our couch, our TV was like, I can't draw out to you. Point is, I could hide behind the side of the couch, where he wasn't looking, and his chair wasn't seen, and the TV was here, and I just ducked and watched it, and I still remember the scene in my head, where the one that burned in my brain is like, he shoots the werewolf in the eye with a firecracker. Which, see, these are burning my brain, Chris, and I went back to my room that night, and I was putting a bit of a pickle here, because I was then petrified in two ways. I could sit in my room, be killed by a werewolf, or I could go out and tell my dad, I snuck in and watch the movie, and be killed by him. So it was sort of a lose, lose situation, where I had to decide, which I did eventually go out and tell him, he was not happy, but he did let me sit out there. And this last story about fear kind of ties to Christianity. I was not raised in the church, but one of the first books of the Bible that I ever, ever had someone read to me was revelation. I'll let that sink in for a second. So yeah, that's true story. I have no idea why that was read to me. Yeah, but I went to my friend's house, and it was kind of cool, it was supposed to be an exciting night. We were camping out in his dad's old muscle car he had in the back, he was working on it, it was a summer night, so we got sleepy bags, we went out there and laid in, it was gonna be awesome. And I, the guy started talking about, 'cause they did kind of go to church, about the end of the world. Now keep in mind, I've already heard this. All right, about giant mantis head creatures and all this kind of stuff. And we're talking about the trumpet, and it was at this particular time, sometime in that night, that I heard what I now know would be a train whistle. However, when you were eight years old, that sounds awful like what you would think a trumpet sounds like. So I, they're like, it's okay, and to their credit, they tried to encourage me, like Todd, it's fine, even his little kids, 'cause I started being cool at first, I was like, you know, what do you think that was? I was like, I don't know, it sounded like a trumpet. And then before you know it, I got my stuff under my sleeping bag and my backpack, and I'm on my bike riding through town at 2 a.m. Went home, and now we've got another problem. I was like, I'll just slide inside. It'll be no big deal. 'Cause I should have certainly, at eight years old, eight to 10, this is truly my age, should have been riding through town at 2m, but I was like, well, I gotta get home, it's the end of the world, right? So I got home, and when I went to get in my house, the door was locked. So you're probably saying, Todd, why didn't you knock? Because fear again, because in order to do that, I would have had to tell my parents that I rode through town in the middle of the night, passed all the bars, which by the way, I remember those signs, those gleaming red signs, you know, like beer tankards and stuff, and I'm like, where am I? So I mean, I shouldn't have been out. I shouldn't have been out. So instead, what I did is I slept on the porch, which then my mom woke up the next morning, this is just a little side, it has nothing to do with the message, other than fear drove me to this, this is true story. She said, hey, how'd you get home? And I said, now keep them on my bikes out front, but I go, fear, I go, his mom drove me home. And she goes, really, it was really nice to her. I go, yeah, it was. And she goes, you know what, I wanna call her and thank her. (audience laughing) And I was like, you don't have to do that, mom. I already told her, thank you. And she goes, no, and I remember she, and I was gonna call the bluff 'til the end, 'cause I'm like, so she picked up and go ahead and then she started down, I was like, I didn't do it. And then I got in a lot of trouble. And I tried everything to break in the house at night, 'cause I knew what was gonna happen. But the point is, in all these cases, and it's kind of funny, that's the kind of kid I was, that's weird, by the way, that's a little neurotic. Now I look back on it, that was a weird little kid, right? I, in all those cases, when I look back, even though they were all fear, one's a guy with knives on his hands, another's a werewolf, slash dad, another is the end of the world, right? Which they seem unrelated, kind of. But at the end of the day, it's, there's similarities in the fear. All of them were involved something bigger and better than me. And there was nothing I could do to stop it. I can't stop a werewolf from killing me, no matter how much, especially then, maybe now. I couldn't stop Freddy Krueger, for sure. And I can't stop God from coming back at the time, right? And all I knew was that that was gonna be a scary time. I couldn't get away from those things. And in those instances, when you feel that way, there was no one to help me. I was alone. I was alone to face all those things that go bump in the night, right? You know that phrase, bump in the night? By the way, some of you all, grown adults, you hear a bump outside, and you're going, mm-hmm, right? Not the guys though, yeah, right? You just roll over and grab your gun. But it's the same thing. Looked right at Greg. (laughing) Yeah. (laughing) Yeah, nice. Listen, those are all, that's normal. That's why they have the phrase, things that go bump in the night. And there's more normal fears that I dealt with too. And maybe you can relate to these. I remember being fearful the first day of school. In fourth grade, I went to three different schools in two different states. I always remember that, right? That's hard. It's your first day of school, three times. There's fear of trying out for a team. You know, when I played, I love football. Everyone knows that, but in second grade, my first year of real organized football, I tried to quit because I got there and I realized like, oh, there's like other people, I'm not guaranteed, you know, I may not make it, right? I may not make it, I may not be good, right? And there's that fear of being found out. You're not good. And that leads right to a big fear throughout childhood. Fear of not being good enough. The fear of being picked last. Everyone remembers that. Remember in gym class and all this stuff and they start picking people and you're like, I don't wanna, and maybe you were picked last. And that's a big wound still. Even to this day as an adult. Isn't that weird? That stuff sticks with you. And it all, even all of those things, what are they, what are they relate to? They relate to you being ostracized. You're not a part of us, right? Singled out, you, there's something wrong with you. You're not good enough, right? 'Cause even the first day of school, that's the fear you're gonna show up and everybody immediately looks at you, go, ha, ha, you're dumb or whatever the thing in your mind is. By the way, that can even happen when you go to church. Some of you in your first, maybe it's your first time visiting. Like you can have that fear of like, man, I'm gonna look like a weirdo or I don't wanna stand out, right, or all those things. It's a fear of being alone, really. 'Cause you're singled out when you're ostracized, you're alone to face those things. So in my fear, as a kid, and probably, well, I'll start as a kid, I became a mixture of two different things. I became a runner, I tried to quit the team, right? There were times that I would say I was sick because I didn't wanna go to school. We've all done it, but like, I did that. Like, try to do that a lot, right? Because when you're a chubby kid from the south with a, hey, you went to Northwood, you remember? I forgot heaven, you go to your chubby kid from the south, you're gonna get like that, you stand out naturally. You're not part of the it crowd. So I became a runner and then I became a fighter. Because when I couldn't run and I get cornered, then I'm gonna fight and I'm gonna lash out. And as I got older, I became more the second than the first. All right, because it was still fear based. It's just this time I'm gonna make sure that I either hurt you back, hurt it back, fight, go down swinging, I don't really know. But the goal is I'm gonna fight. And that sounds all cool and manly, except when you live your life being that way, you start to see shadows where there aren't shadows. And you start to see people that aren't werewolves and vampires as scary things and you treat them the same. Even people that you love and are close to you. Last week, only stop. Before I say that, before I talk about it. Guys, fear is a real thing and it's natural. You can't control it. It doesn't matter how much, how many pills you take unless you're literally off in Wawa land, but even then, right? You get anxious, that's the whole druggie joke, right? Like, right? You see things are not there. It doesn't matter what you do. There's still gonna be a place where there's fear. Fear is natural and the crazy thing about fear is like, we try to run from fear to this day. You try to run to bottles and you try to run to people to make you feel safe and you try to run all these things. But it doesn't matter where you go. Sometimes I feel like I'm all about you, but it feels like we're all running around trying to find somewhere safe, but wherever we're at, right? We see those shadows creep under the door 'cause you can't get away from it. Last week, I asked all of you what you had asked Jesus for. Well, what would you ask Him for if you were transported back to, you know, the first century Israel, the Middle East, and you see Him? What would you ask Jesus if you saw Him walking down the road towards you, had heard of the miracle worker, had maybe even seen something. So you know what's happened. You saw that lame guy walk. You saw that blind guy see. You saw that diseased person healed. What if you saw that you knew it could happen? Even if you're in this room and you're not a believer, by the way, some of you, you're fans of Him. This is corny, I know everyone says it, but it's true and you need to hear it. You not having a problem with Jesus is not the same thing as following Jesus. So even you, the fans, right? You know he could do it. If you knew a guy could come and fix your problem, what would you ask Him for? I have a good friend. I hope he's in the room. You're not gonna know who he is or is he in the room? Maybe he's not. He's not a good friend when asked this question. He said, and it's powerful 'cause I feel the same way. He said, I would just want him to hug me and tell me it's gonna be okay. That's such a real thing. I thought that was so real 'cause like we can get caught up in all the ones we have which are real too, but at the end of the day, isn't that what we want? Why? Because we're afraid. Afraid we're not measuring up. Afraid of what's gonna happen. Afraid of mistakes we made. Afraid of afraid of being alone. I asked you, what would you ask Him for? Well, this week I'm gonna ask you a follow-up question. What would make you hesitant to ask Him? What would stop you? What stops you now from following Him all out? What stops you from obeying Him? What stops you from trusting Him? What stops you from having faith in Him? What stops you from living out the stuff that you wanna live out but you know as well as I do, you're not really doing it or you do it halfway. What's stopping you? What drives you more often than not to do things you don't wanna do in acting ways you don't wanna act? To be in that loop, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You can substitute a different person. Some of you write, some of you single people, but it's the same loop. Yay, everything's great and happy and they're gonna make life great and then oh my goodness, life isn't great and then I get a new one and then it's over and over and over. Some of you are a little different. You don't need, life ain't even great with them but somehow it's a little bit better than now so you settle for a little bit better and then when you lose that thing you just wanna chase it, chase it 'cause I would rather have a little bit better than what? Than life, but here's the truth. You know and I know even when you have that thing you're fearful you're gonna lose it again. What makes you do that? More often than not it's the same cause that had me worrying about things that go bump in the night. That's a fact, you're afraid. I'm afraid. It's generally agreed by most people or at the exact amount but the Bible tells us to fear not do not be afraid something to that effect. You've heard it said 365 times and that's a little bit but at least it's agreed upon 350 times. 300 times in the Old Testament and 50 times in the New Testament. You're like why so much? There's New Testament's a little shorter. So we see Jesus say it often all the time. He said it last week and it's crazy 'cause he puts two things together almost every single time. He says fear not just believe. Now let me tell you right now how fear is creeping into some of you right now 'cause you're too church. You're too church. You know everything and I don't mean that a mean way. So then you say well I've heard this before. I've heard stuff about fear and I'm still afraid so it's not going to matter. At that moment you're not believing. Fear not just believe. Why would Jesus connect our fear with our faith every single time when they came and talked to him? What did he say? Fear not woman, your what has made you well, your faith. He actually literally says fear not just believe. That actually is an exact phrase he says. Believe what? I think about it right? In the moment you're saying okay I want you to heal me, let's say and he says just believe so you're like okay you want me to believe you can heal me but what does that have to do with fear? Why would Jesus connect our fear with our faith and what can that tell us about our fears today? And you ready? Listen in this moment. Now some of you dudes, I get mad at you already. I don't see any today, I don't see any grumps but a lot of times I see him 'cause let me tell you, you're tough guys. If I call you a tough guy by the way, you get mad. Okay tough guy. I'm a tough guy, I'm a covering tough guy. So what I'm saying here is when I say this you zone out 'cause you're like I heard for another man, that's what you sound like, you sound ridiculous, okay? You're too cool, right? I don't know any of the cool phrases, I'm gonna try to say when I can't remember them. But you're the most fearful person in the room. How do I know, how can I call you out? 'Cause I'm, hey, you looking at 'em. If you have your bibles, turn with me. What can this tell us about our fears today and what can it tell us I should finish this sentence in this moment about your fears? There's a whole point of the tough guy, I think I was saying, everybody in this room's afraid. If you have your bibles, turn to the chapter, the gospel of John, the chapter, right? Gospel John chapter 14, we're gonna start at verse one, going through one through seven. It'll be on the screen, I think, right? We're good, I always worry about my number flipping thing. Listen, so in this section, it's one of my favorite sections in the Bible, in the gospel of John. I've talked about this many times. See, Amazon and out 'cause she heard John too many times. Gotcha, still true. In this section, I love it. Because after all the, you know, all the gospels, it's the same thing from different perspectives, but he gives us what's happening right before Jesus goes to finish. So he's with his disciples and he starts teaching 'em and I love it because you get the sense of his, he's in a hurry, there's a desperation because he knows his time short, so he's trying to fill everything in before he goes. Kind of his last words to the last teachings, right? Most important things, you gotta make sure that they remember at the end. So he says this here. He also prays for us in these sections, which I love. Says, "Don't let your heart be troubled." We think another phrase with that would be, in other words. (mumbles) You will yell out if I don't ask you to. Thank you, right? Believe in God, there it is again. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house, there are many rooms. If it were not so, what I've told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself so that where I am, you may also be, or you may be also. You know the way to where I'm going. Lord Thomas says, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Listen, if you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. You got to understand in this section, Jesus has already been proven and done a ton of the miracles, right? We've walked on water, we've healed people. He's seen crazy stuff. Even the disciples have done it in his name. They've seen it. It's go time. They're excited because we're about to head and Jesus is going to overthrow the Roman Empire. Things are going to finally be not scary. That was what the Messiah was coming to do, right? That's what they thought. And then all of a sudden Jesus says this, imagine that guy, see, you're zoned out. I get it. Listen, I want you to imagine that you expect all the proofs here, the man is the man. You're with him, good things are happening. You've had some troubles. This is about to be it. He's going to be king. And by the way, since you're close to the king, things are about to be good for you. And then Jesus starts talking about leaving you. Right at the moment when things are supposed to be better, less fearful, good. He's already proven that he's God, he's something, right? They may not have quite God, but they at least believed he was a Messiah. This guy is here and he has to do good things for us, for our people, and he has the power to do it. That's good. And then he says, I'm going to leave you now. That would be terrifying because remember, they've lost everything. They've lost friends, they've lost their religion because they are with the rebel rouser. That's a southern thing. You guys, he's no one use that, right? They're with the rebel, the troublemaker. So guess what happens? It got to the point we know that from the blind man, anybody who was talking about Jesus wasn't allowed to come in the synagogue. They've lost everything for him. And now you're leaving? Right at the time when all of a sudden, all of it's going to be worth something, it's going to have counted. Now you're leaving? And he says at first, don't let your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe in God, believe also in me, why he knew they'd be afraid. In my father's house, so many rooms, I'd be going, okay, why are you talking to me? What's father, God, okay? If we're not so, what I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you, if I go away and prepare a place for you, I'm going to come back for you so that you can be with me where I'm at. And then he says, also, you know where I'm going. And then Thomas says, what we all do, I don't have a clue where you're going. We would all say that. We have hindsight, we're like, man, we're so much smarter than him. No, we're not. We wouldn't have a clue, by the way, you don't believe it now, sometimes. Me too. Where are you going? Listen, what does he say? He says, don't let your army troll believe in God, believe it also me. He's going away, but he's going to prepare a place for them and us in the father's house. That's real. Jesus isn't a ghost that came back to life and was like, ooh, and floated away. He was bodily risen from the dead to prove that he is who he said he was. And then he actually ascended. Does that mean he floated away? Probably. To prove that you're all going, that sounds crazy, exactly. He had to be like, man, that dude is not just a dude. (congregation laughing) Right? He's coming back. So to prepare a place for us in the father's house, he's coming back to take us with him. And then he says, don't worry, you know where I'm going. They go, no, where are you going? He goes, I'm going to go to my father. And here's the beauty. I'm going to go be with my father. And if you're with me, you're going to be with my father. Why am I telling you this? You got to stick with me to the end. Right, Chase? You got to stick with me to the end. She didn't do anything wrong. Just saying her name. Dude, it's so funny though. People are me like, remember, I say your name, I like you. But don't say your name, I don't, I'm just kidding. (congregation laughing) That's why I don't say tall guy's name. It's Blake. Anyway, we know the way to get there. So he says, Jesus is the way to the father's place. I'm telling this to you. I'm building you up. I have a point here. Jesus is the way to the father. We already know the father through Jesus. So Jesus says, I want you to walk out the fact that your place is secure with me. You're going to be with me again. Now I want you to stop before I even get on to fear. A lot of Christians in the room were human. We live in this world where it's hard and we're bombarded. I want you to imagine for a second, take a second. Let's play make believe, it's not, but it's real. That you know for a fact for a second, 'cause I don't know about you. Sometimes I can grasp this truth with a certainty. Like I can hold on to it and it feels really real for like 30 seconds and then it floats away and I got to grab it again. You know what I'm talking about? No, you with me? Yes, I want you to grab it for a second. I want you to envision he's coming back to get you and let yourself go. If that's a 100% fact, how does that make the things I'm worried about right now feel? I know it's not going to last long. Hold it though. If I believe that, I'm going to do it. All the things that I'm worried about, I did it. You didn't believe it, I did Jacob. All the things that I'm worried about generally in that five seconds that I held on became smaller. I stopped worrying about it so and so still gonna love me. I stopped worrying about if this is gonna succeed. I stopped worrying about if I'm ever really forgiven. I'm gonna stop worrying about whether you actually trust me. I'm gonna stop worrying about whether you know I'm gonna be able to take care of my responsibilities. I stopped worrying because I know he's gonna come back and when he comes back to take me home or when he comes and brings home here, guess what? He's gonna fix it all. How do we know he said that? Revelation. I'm a wipe away every tear and there'll be no more crying or death or pain in you anymore. Behold, the old is gone, the new has come. Now that's hard, which is why Jesus, why God tells us over and over, don't be afraid. He knows us. This isn't shame. I'm not to listen. Anybody that's ever told you, if you have any fear, you have no faith, is lying to you because if that's the case, why would he tell you over and over to not be afraid? So if you can't control, see the people paying attention. If you can't control whether you feel faith, if you can't control whether you feel, I'm faith, if you can't control whether you feel fear, then we have to start really thinking about what the message is here about fear. He knows we're gonna feel it. Stop worrying about getting to a place where you don't feel fear. That's not the point. Give you a clue now at the end. He wants us to stop letting fear dictate our lives. What do we let in the driver's seat? Now some of you, I ain't afraid of anything, really? You ain't afraid of looking stupid? You ain't afraid of looking like you're not good at your job? You're not afraid of being found out, that secret thing that nobody knows. He wants us to walk, right? Jesus is trying to tell him ahead of time, "Listen, you're gonna be afraid, it's gonna look scary." But remember what I've done. When I go, I'm gonna come back for you. So in the meantime, live like I'm gonna come back for you. Remember what I said, hold on. Do your best to hold those moments so that what, so that fear is not the thing driving you. Why, we're gonna talk about that. Did I give you guys 15? No, did I give you 27? Good, don't worry, everybody, you're at your Bible's open and be good. Listen to this. Drop down to verse 18 in the same chapter. If you don't have it, that's okay, it won't be up. That's me, I told you, numbers. I will not leave you, this is same chapter. I will not leave you as orphans, I'm coming to you, right? Better pull my Bible open, make sure. Do, do, do, do, just buy time, pretend something cool's happening. Yeah, did somebody just say, "Wow, that was awesome, thank you." Yeah, I was right, okay, good, right? Drop down to verse 18. I will not leave you as orphans, I'm coming to you. In a little while, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. On that day, you will know that I am in the Father, you are in me, and I am in you. What a beautiful thing he says. So he says, "I'm gonna go come back a place, you're not gonna see me for a while." And the implication is you're gonna be scared, and the world's not gonna see me. And what happens if the world doesn't see me? They're gonna start to say, "I never was real, I don't exist," and they're gonna start to try to, what, heighten your fears, and they're gonna try to put doubt in you, but guess what? I'm gonna come back, and in that moment, you're gonna realize that everything I said was true, and everything you believed was real. I love this sentence, because it goes to the heart of what I said fear was. What did I say? Fear is we're alone, we're singled out, we're ostracized. There's nobody coming, right? Nobody's coming, and what does Jesus say? I love, it's so beautiful. I will not leave you as orphans. I'm coming to you. There it is, let that sink in, I'm coming. Did you know that's true today? That right now, he's saying that to you through this jacked up, messed up guy, right? I'm just the messenger, the message though. How beautiful is that? You, AJ, he's saying that to you. See, if I say your name, you might cry. I mean, Bray went right, I will not leave you as orphans. I'm coming to you. That time when you're scared, orphans are scared, right? The concept of that, and they don't have anyone, they're scared, right? Whenever I think of like, Annie, you know, and they're eating gruel, you know, all that stuff, the scary stuff, you don't know what Annie is, you're too young and hip and cool, I don't substitute some guy with no parents. Anyway, those people are fearful because they don't have any security, and he says, I'm not gonna leave you there. It's gonna feel like it sometimes, but I'm coming back, and in that day, everything that you've done between the time I went and came back is gonna be proven to be worth it. Fear makes you doubt what that he's coming back, that he's gonna keep his promise. Now, some of you go, that's not my main fear. My main fear is to never have my girlfriend again, or never my boyfriend, that's real too, we'll get to that. But at the end of the day, it's the same thing, because if you knew God loved you, he's coming back and all your insecurities, fears, and doubts, and that this wasn't the end of the life, this wasn't it, eternity was more than this, you wouldn't let that scare you, because you realize that's a blip in the radar, right? Jump down to 25, he says, I've spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and listen to this, and reminds you of everything I've told you. I'm gonna send you, I'm gonna leave, but the Father's gonna send you a counselor. How cool is that? To do what? To counsel you, to encourage you, to remind you, to pull you back when you went away, to be louder than what? The fear, those that are mine, I will send a counselor to, and it will teach you things, and remind you of everything I've told you, and then right after this, 27, he says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." I don't give to you as the world gives. How's the world give peace? It's temporary, that's why we have treaties. We have this treaty, we have peace. If that's the case, then why are we afraid of World War III? Shouldn't these treaties last? We know, that's all tenuous. And he says, "Listen, I'm not like that. "My peace I give to you, I do not give you the world gifts. "Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful. "Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful." I like that, the concept of heart and the Bible is the center of you, right? I like it, I'm gonna stretch this a little bit. You can't necessarily, I may not be able to stop it from coming into my mind, but I think I can stop it from coming to the center of me and driving me. I have to spend more time over here. It's 'cause you guys don't pay attention, and then I look sad, like you, you look like you're all sad, or angry, right? There we go, that's better, half smile, I'll take it. It's Jericho, see I said his name, it means I like him. By peace I give to you, and you have heard me tell you, here he goes, he reminds us again, "I'm going away and I'm coming to you. "If you love me, you would rejoice "then I'm going to the Father "because the Father is greater than I. "I have told you now before it happens, "so that when it does happen, you may believe." I won't talk with you much longer because the rule of this world is coming. I love this, he has no power over me. On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. I love that, you may put that in cool man terms. Hey, the devil's coming, he ain't got no power on me, but to prove that I am who I say I am, I'm gonna let him do what he's gonna do just so I can be glorified more. And I can show you that I have the power to keep my promises. Now, if you have your Bibles, 16-33, we got that one, right, six perfect. I love this same chapter, remember it's all together. This is the same conversation. In John chapter 16, verse 33, listen to this, kinda ends it all, I have told you, oh, I'll give you a second, five, four, three, two, perfect. I have told you these things so that in me, you may have peace, hey, hey, you. I don't know why this is coming to my mind, it's not because I know you personally, but mama in the room, I feel like this is for you. Mom, I've told you these things so that in me, you may have peace, you will have suffering in this world. Be courageous, there it is again. I like it, he started by saying, be not fearful, now he's saying, giving us an action, be courageous, I've conquered the world. So how does that all fit together? We gotta make this a big math equation. You don't like math? I'll make it word math, you don't watch this. I don't like math either, he took, quick math. He says, I'm gonna go to the Father, I'm gonna make a place for you. And if I do that, I'm gonna come back for you. You know where I'm going, where am I going? No, I know how. I'm the way, the truth and the life. I am the Father, the Father is in me. If you're in me, you're in the Father, who's the Father, God, right? He's making himself known who he is, he's God. Then he says what, I'm gonna leave for a while and it's gonna be scary. And bad things are gonna happen because this world is sinful. It doesn't mean I've abandoned you, it doesn't mean that I'm not telling the truth, I have an overall plan, you gotta trust me because there are other people that need to believe. And it's not, I'm not being patient because I forgot you, I'm not being patient 'cause I don't have the power, I'm being patient so that as many people as possible can hear the truth of my message so that they too can be with me and the Father. And then he says, I have to go soon, the enemy's coming. But I want you to remember that he has no power, he didn't overtake me, I'm letting this happen for you because it's the only way that you can be with me and the Father. And also I'm gonna prove to you that I'm exactly who I said I was after it. And I'm telling you it all now so that you have peace. I'm telling you what's going to happen so that you can say he told us this. So if the bad stuff that happened happened and the good stuff's gonna happen too, so you can have peace and listen, I know in the meantime, things are gonna be hard sometimes. The world's gonna make you doubt, lies are gonna come, it's gonna seem like I'm nowhere to be found and you're gonna question. You're gonna say, where are you? You promised me, I need you to remember this. I told you it'd be hard, but what did I say? Be courageous because I've conquered the world, I am the King, you are mine and I'm coming back for you. That's the beauty of Jesus's words on the cross, it is finished. The hardest thing for us as humans is to see the overall story. And guys, I'm there with you 'cause sometimes I don't feel like me, I don't even put this in your head, I'm like, well you're all powerful, why don't we gotta suffer, right? I would suffer without him because this world is sinful and broken, but with him what? I have hope and peace and you do too and you know it. Whether it's now or whether it was that moment you came to know him, you know it's real. Now you might be lost in the weeds of fear, but the truth is still the truth. Jesus tells us ahead of time to believe and trust, the scary times are coming. Believe and remember what he's done and who he is. Guy's scary in hard times, both in the world, right? And that's really powerful 'cause Jesus said, the world's not gonna see me and they're gonna take that absence to say, oh yeah, the sheep are mine now. That's why they try to scare you all the time, that's why social media is always scaring you, like here's one that's crazy, does anybody know what we can't eat anymore? Like what's healthy? Make your face, they're going on social media, they'll tell you you can't eat grains, you can't eat meat, you can't eat vitamins, you can't drink water because it's bad, you can't have bottled water, but you can't drink tap water, you can't drink filtered water, use charcoal, that'll kill you, what do you do, right? They want to scare you, why? Because how do you get sheep to go where you want 'em to go? You scare 'em. And so, why Jesus says that you're sheep, he says listen, there's gonna be a lot of people that come in and pretend to be me, right? They're gonna try to drive you, you need to remember my voice and if you're mine, my voice is gonna be louder than theirs. It says that in the same chapter, really, same sections. I want to read to you, Romans chapter eight, stay with me, you're like, what's going on? I think you get the gist, fear, let's stay with it. Romans chapter eight, we talked about that last week, didn't we? Went through Romans and talked about the promises and all this stuff, some of this a couple weeks ago, I don't remember. Romans chapter eight, verse 14 through 18, nice. Remember, this is all the same story. You with me, Ben? Nice, he is, I can tell. For all those led by God's spirit are God's sons and in essence, daughters, okay? For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, ooh. Did you hear that? You did not receive a spirit, well, he's trying to follow me. Spirit of fear, right? Slavery to fall back into fear. So there's a connection here between fear and slavery. Instead, you receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father, remember I told you, Abba means daddy, that intimate of a relationship. The spirit himself testifies together with our spirit. What's thus spirits to counselor? Right? With our spirit that we're God's children and if children, we're also heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him, I need to say that too. You're like, what does that mean? Well, he's saying, listen, you're co-heirs with Christ. Well, that means on this earth, you're gonna suffer a little bit because the world hated him and it's gonna hate you. But don't worry, that also means you're gonna be glorified with him, right? That he's gonna keep his promise. Young people are thinking about TikToks. Stay with me. I know, you're not young, Blake. Anyway, Blake's like, yeah, I'm just kidding, right? Couple years, Abba, he's old as you. If heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him. So in a weird way, the suffering we have in some ways is the proof that we're his because they hated him, they're gonna hate us sometimes. And before you go, I'm not fearful of people. Yes, you are. How come you're not as bold on a Monday as you are on a Sunday? Because you're fearful. How come you fall asleep? I'm just being real with you. You're like, Todd, how does that connect to fear? Because some of you all are like fainting goats, right? I've been stressed all week. My sweet voice lulls you to sleep, right? Why is that so funny? And then listen to what he says. If indeed we serve him, and here's that beautiful promise again. For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that might be revealed to us. It doesn't say might. It says is going to be revealed to us. It's so powerful because he connects this, that sentence is really, really powerful for us, especially in our culture, where certain words are buzz words and you get in trouble for saying them like slavery, slavery, slavery, right? It happened, okay? Some of you are already going, Todd, it's a word, okay? But you didn't receive a spirit of slavery. What is a slave? A slave is under the power and authority of someone else. They have to do what they're told to do because if they don't, what happens? They're punished in some way, or they're withheld, right? I'm not gonna feed you, I'm gonna hit you something like that. So what do we take from that? You know, Paul tells us you didn't receive a spirit of slavery. God didn't say, hey, I'm gonna send you the slave master spirit, no. So what does that tell us? He says to fall back into fear, so fear is slavery. Fear is slavery, guys. Some of you in this room that are very anxious, you're good people, but you don't act like good people all the time, or you half act like good people. And it's not because you don't have a good heart, it's not because you're saved, because you have willingly given yourself over to fear and would rather feel safe than be safe and be holy, because you're only safe in the will of God. Makes sense, so I'll give you an example. You're lonely, you may feel less lonely in a moment, and this is exaggeration, but could be literal for some of you when you're in the arms of a prostitute. I know that's vulgar, but I'm trying to make a point. In that moment, that's why people do it, right? It's not just a place, in that moment, in that 10, 15 hour, whatever, you don't feel as lonely, but what happens after? You're lonelier, because it's not real, it's what? It's fake, it's generic, it's a false substitute, right? Whereas if you're in the will of God, then yes, it may be hard, and you may feel lonely, but in the long run, you won't be lonely. And I mean, even if you wait, right? You wait for the right person, and assuming that happens, and maybe it doesn't, but even if it didn't, do you trust him? Would you rather have those moments of shame, doubt, and fear, because we're willing to trade that security that you feel in your identity as a person for 10 or 15 minutes of rolling around in a bed? And we do that, and Christians do that, because in that moment, they're willing to give themselves over to fear, and fear drives us to do things to feel safe temporarily. Reminds me of the garden, I think of it all the time, right after we sinned, what happened? They ran off and hid in the bushes, and God says, where are you, he knew? They felt safer in the bushes than with the man they'd walked with, then the one who had taken care of them and created them and provided for them, and we both, because what, they were afraid. What were they afraid of? They knew his character, they knew his heart, but in that moment, they doubted both. And that's what the enemy knew, what happened, right? When we sinned, when we disobeyed, and we walked out of his will, fear is bondage, guys, meaning it takes captive our thoughts and our feelings and our attitudes and our actions. I've had moments and I think, I try to relate to you guys, 'cause if you're human at all, you know what I mean? Say you've done something stupid, say, I don't know, there's moments where fear, you feel like an animal, you're not thinking clearly, you're just reacting. You know what I'm talking about? Like you're panicked, doesn't matter situation, what has happened in that moment? In that moment, we are no longer in control, right? You know what I'm talking about. You were in control of what, then? You were a slave to the fear, to the anxiety, and we willingly give it over. It's bondage, it takes captive our thoughts, which means it forced it. We no longer think about the things we wanna do, we no longer trust, we make decisions based on impulse, instead of truth, it controls our feelings. We can be in a, some of you are in a great situation, right? You're blessed and it's stuff that you wanted so badly two years ago and you have it now and now you're miserable because your mind can only think about whether you're gonna keep it, whether you can provide for it, whether you can take care of it, whether it's gonna work out. So the thing that you were blessed with has now become something you're trapped in because you're just wrapped in fear. So what was once joyful is now miserable. Your situation hasn't changed, but fear is taking your feelings captive. Our attitudes, you know, like, I struggle with this a lot. If the Bible tells me, and we're gonna talk about this this summer, right? I've got a lot I wanna talk about this summer, right? Fruit of the spirit, really dig into that. If it says I can be joyful, right? That is a natural fruit of the spirit, then why doesn't it happen? For me, because I usually, right? Fear causes me to sin, sin doesn't kill it, but it chokes out our fruit. Our actions, fear causes us to lash out. How many people in the room have hurt you not to raise your hand, have hurt someone that is close to you, and as soon as you walk your way, you're like, "Why'd I do that?" But it was because you're anxious or nervous, right? Scared, upset, you say a harsh thing, you do a harsh thing, you don't come through for someone because instead of worrying about being there for 'em, you're worried about whether you're going to do it, right? You ever done that? You've got a phone call, you know that person needs you, you just don't know if you have the right words for 'em, turn it down, put it down. It's bondage, it's slavery, and it pulls us back into a place where we become a slave to our emotions and listen to me, to our selfishness. Selfishness puts self above everything else, and when God says that the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God, with all your hearts, soul and mind, to love others as yourself, we've already messed up because we then put what's meant to be third, number one, and that's gonna affect everything else. Fear makes us put ourselves number one because no one else is going to, that's the lie. I gotta make myself number one 'cause nobody's gonna take care of me. I've been taught that some ways, you ever been taught that by family members, ain't nobody coming? You need to take care of you and yours, right? Something down south, we take care of me and mine. Where Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'll take care of you. You take care of other people. And what's crazy is it's infected our Christianity to the point that even the truth becomes deluded. We make the word of God about us. This is about God and Jesus. His place, and when we talk about God and Jesus, of course it affects our lives, but the story isn't about. Some of you, you wanna look at you, I can't talk, right? You wanna listen to certain pastors and preachers and you share things online, not because it's truth, but because it feels good. And you'll literally walk away from doctrine, truth, and it's subtle and you're like, "What's okay 'cause God wants me to be happy." No, he doesn't. He wants you to be joyful. He wants you to be at peace, which is way better than happy. Todd, that's semantics. No, joyful, that's what I crave. Joyful is above circumstance. Happiness is dependent on it, right? You ever met people like that? I have met people that are joyful and they're in the words. How is a believer in Africa who probably has to go 12 miles to get a drink of water, praising God and more joyful than us? Because their circumstances don't dictate their attitude in their life. How about the person in China right now or sometime tonight gonna be in a basement hidden with a candle and one piece of the Bible? And they're praising God because they have made their life not dependent on circumstances, but on the truth. That's why Jesus says what? Build your life on a firm foundation. If you build your life on sand, which is emotion and circumstances, it's gonna eventually go away. I am the rock, build your life on me because I am steady and true. It puts us, fear makes us put ourselves number one because the lie is no one else is going to. Fear takes us captive and listen to me. It ties us up. What's interesting ties us up. You ever feel trapped in fear, right? And then it's a cycle. Then when you're trapped, you start panicking more, right? What's interesting in this section is that Paul ties our relationship to God to our level of fear, our view of our relationship. That's deep. He does. He ties, he's like, listen, the way you see your relationship with God is gonna be shown in the amount of fear you're feeling. That's pretty deep, but it's true, right? If you actually, we're gonna do a pretend again. You ready Sean? I want you to grab that floating balloon of belief and I want you to grab it for a second. That he's coming back, that he meant everything he said, that he died for you, that you're a co-air with Christ, equal to Christ in the eyes of God. That's blasphemy, no, it's not, it's right there. That's what he did, the first fruit among many. That's what it says. He made you a co-air with Christ. So if that's the case and you're a co-air with Christ, why are you free? I've said this before. When you're little, right, you run to people that are bigger than you to feel safe. Whether it's mom or dad or grandpa, grandma, aunt, uncle's, school, it doesn't matter, right? Because they're bigger than that. And you want them to handle, and it's, you know, I always think of Lion King, right? That scene in Lion King, raise your hand if you've seen Lion King. Raise your hand if you just don't like raising your hand. Keep your hand down if you don't like to listen to anything anyone says, perfect. All right, listen to me. You remember when Simba, they got the hyenas and he's roaring, right, and he goes, "Ah," and they're like, "Ha, ha, ha," and then he wars again, and it's like a huge line where they flee and tear, and he's like, "Yeah," for just a second, he's like, "I'm a bad man," but it's really Mufasa behind him. That's you. The one who is with you is greater than one in the world. And farther on, it says, "What, what can separate "is from the love of God? "Can hide or death? "Can demons or angels? "Can anything separate is from the love of God? "No." Why? Because you're his son or daughter, and I've said this before, I love my daughter so much, and I'll take every opportunity to talk about it. I don't care if you don't like it, okay? I love my baby girl. She had mean to me, like last week she heard my feelings several times, all right? And then you have a day where she's awesome and loves me, and then she comes up and says, "Thank you, daddy, "I love you, daddy, right?" But any time between, guess what? When she was mean or when she was not, I would do anything for her. And I can honestly say for the first time in my life, you know, and maybe this is right wrong, I'm sure I would do it for others, but I'd die for her, right? And I'm not even a good person, I'm not. So if me, right, in Scripture talks about that, the Bible says, "You who's not even a good person "can be a good father according to you," right? We know that a good father doesn't give his kid a rock when he's hungry, right? Or like, "Daddy, give me a teddy bear," and then I say, okay, Daisy, here's a cobra, right? I don't do that. That's not a good father. So why do we think the perfect father is gonna be that way to us? And I've said this before, and I love the analogy of my daughter 'cause it's taught me a lot. And I know when I was single, didn't have kids, I was like, "Shut up, dude, blah, blah, blah." Okay, substitute your dog. I don't care, right? At the end of the day, if God just loves me as much as I love Daisy, if I could grasp that, I would never be afraid because I would know that no matter what happens, there's good in it, which is the promise He tells us. Isn't that crazy? I will work out all things for the good of those believe according to my purposes. That's not a trick. And if I live that way, right? If you live like when Fos is behind you, the hyenas, you're not scared. We don't have to be afraid why because of who our father is. We are His children. We are co-heirs with Christ. And our future far outweighs the circumstances of our present. You hear me? Right now you. I wasn't pointing on specific, it is. But maybe it was you, right? Our future far outweighs the circumstances. You're having to change it for you? Your future far outweighs the circumstances of your present. Not just when you die, though it will, and that'll be worth it. But if He says I'll work out all things the good of those believe according to my purposes, now, now, He hasn't forgotten me. I know what feels that way. I know what feels like you've done that thing that you can't get out of, and if anyone finds out you're done, your life's destroyed. Some of you may have sinned and your life is destroyed, and you don't know how it's gonna be fixed. I was there. And you don't sometimes realize how good and faithfully it is, right? Until you're out of the weeds. Did He give up on you? The time He thought you weren't gonna make it. Did you make it? You know how I know? 'Cause you're here. It's natural in our fallen, sinful state to feel fear. God knows you're gonna feel fear. Even you, tough guy in the room. 'Cause look at how many times He tells us to fear not. We're gonna have times that we feel fear. But as Christians, we have to realize that fear is not of God. Did you know that? I didn't put it in here, but in 1 John, it says that, right? There is no fear in love because perfect love casts out all fear. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. And what that's really saying is if you're fearful, you still haven't grasped how much God loves you. Because if you did, you'd never be scared. Why is that? Why do we have to realize fear is not of God because at its core, fear makes us doubt the character, power, and heart of God. It does. It makes you doubt whether He's gonna come through. It makes you doubt whether there's the power. It makes you doubt whether this is all real. Especially when the people around you tell you that it's not, especially when people that you love and admire and trust tell you that it's not. And sometimes good people cause fear. But it doesn't change the fact that the truth is the truth. And some of you're like, where's God in this? And it's like, He's been telling you to go this way and you're running into the fearful place and then complaining. Simba was in a bad spot. I don't know why this became Lion King. Because he ran into the dark place, right? That the father said not to go to. Some of you all are in the dark place. Instead of sitting around trying to find your way out yourself or trying to find someone you can blend in with, what if you called out to your father to come and save you? Because he will, that's not corny, that's not cliche. It's real. How do you do that? You ask him and then you start walking towards him. Sometimes it's little steps. That's what repentance is. It's walking away from the dark place back to the father. Turning around. Fear makes us doubt the character, power and heart of God. And what happens when we doubt the character, power and heart of God? We begin to take back control. We begin to do things our own way instead of his way. And like I said earlier about myself, typically we either run or we fight. We fight people around us. We fight him. We rebel against what he says. Or we run from him, right? We run to sin. We run to something what? We run to 15 minutes of feeling better rather than a lifetime of security. Examples, right? You're scared about finances. I love, I love, dude, I'm cruel, I guess. 'Cause I love making men mad. 'Cause I'm one of them. 'Cause here's an area you guys are all touching on. Most of the time, no joke. There's ladies that are anxious, but most of the time a lot of times, men are weird about money. Not some of you, some of you ladies, you're in this career too. But the guys, what I mean by that is like, I'm paying the bills and man, I got my money, my 401K, everything's good. And then what happens? You get shot tomorrow. That's not to scare you, but my point is, say you're in fear, right? Your fear of something that God's not gonna come through. You know, what did he say? Don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about where you're gonna sleep. He doesn't mean don't take care of your business. Stop making that the focus. Oh my gosh, what's gonna happen if I don't do this? And when you do that, you're so focused on your job. You're so focused on making money and providing, right? And in America, that's what a good Christian father does, that it's weird. All of a sudden you lie to yourself and say, you know what? Because I'm taking care of my family and providing this good life in this nice house, it's okay that I ignore my son. It's okay that I don't hug my daughter. It's okay that my wife doesn't feel loved. It's okay that I'm not present. It's okay because I'm doing what a man does. Instead of trusting that God's way says what? God wants you to take care of your family. He says, essentially, I'm gonna paraphrase you. He says, a man that doesn't take care of his family's worse than an unbeliever, but you've made that. You've twisted it out of your fear. Instead of realizing that when what? You pursue the kingdom and the way of God, you're gonna take care of people. But you're also gonna be there for your daughter. You're gonna be there for your son. You're gonna be there for your spouse. You're gonna be there for your church. That life isn't all about trying to hold on to your sin castle that you're never gonna be able to take with you. Whether it's relationships, you got one for your young people, right? Young people, Blake. I guess young is subjective. Relationships is a big one. I did this a lot. I had to come to realization. I hate admitting this to you. It feels so weak. I remember this was like a lot of the sin in my life was caused by the fear of being alone. Being alone at all, right? And there's stuff from a past. Like I said, you didn't tell you all the, you know, whiny things that are real. But it made me just want, like I would settle for stuff and I'd settle for people because at least I wasn't alone. And then guess what happens? Then you start to like compromise. 'Cause you'll do anything. And then what has ended up happening is I've let my fear of being alone, Trump, what God's told me, and what I know to be right in my life. And then what happens? Well, when you don't go God's way, your life falls apart. And then you're in the middle of it. And then you're on top of that, you're shameful. And that makes you be fearful. And then blah, blah, blah. And then you're in a mess. Marriages, you know, there's good men that are poor husbands not because they're cold and heartless. Though you act that way, it's because deep, deep down, you don't think you can be what she needs. And it's better to be absent than be a failure. But the irony is in your absence, you are a failure. Ladies, this is the same thing. You know, be submissive to your husband, ask to the Lord, I say it to make you mad too. So you guys, I got you, ask to the Lord. Oh, I saw you cringe up. You start to all of a sudden say, well, God doesn't want me to be unhappy. My husband tells me something makes me unhappy. That can't be of God. I can't tell how many times women say, God loves me. I've literally had women who are being, you know, directed and led by their men, not even like, tyrannically necessarily, but hey, we're going, she goes, it doesn't matter if you love me, God loves me. It's this weird shield, right? Where they've created a God who weirdly agrees with everything she wants. I guess I can say, how about guys that abuse that? And they say, well, you have to submit to me and then they forget their part, which is what, you're to love her as Christ loves the church and sacrifice for her. But ladies, guess what? Not your job to make him do that. You just worry about you. And guys, same. And if we did that, if we trusted God in that, marriages would be great. 'Cause at the end of the day, marriage has struggled because of fear. Fear he's gonna leave, fear she's gonna leave, right? Fear that my needs are gonna be taken care of, whatever else it is. Young people, I know you're not married, but girlfriends, boyfriends, you're afraid. You compromise with your body, with pictures, with posts, because if you do that, it gives you this semblance, this feeling of intimacy. We're close, but it's not real. It's not real. And I'll tell you what other young guys won't tell you 'cause that's why you know I got a daughter. I'm like, yeah, you ain't even gonna be around a guy. 'Cause that was a decent guy. It was decent. I was better in high school. Weirdly, I acted better before I knew Jesus right away. Isn't that weird in some ways? 'Cause I was so afraid, right? I heard a lot of girls, because I either took what they offered or I didn't wanna admit it, but I pushed it for to see things or view things. And I didn't threaten them, I didn't, but I knew that they attached my love and affection for them to whether they pleased me. And guys, you can go the same way. If I don't do what she tells me to do, right? If I don't quit, and I'm not talking to anyone first, if I don't quit my sport, if I don't stay up all night, if I don't disobey my parents, if I don't do this, right? I did that with a girl too. If I don't stop going to this church, if I don't do this, she's gonna leave me. Guess what? You're living in fear and you end up some place you never wanted to be. We do this because at the end of the day, we believe we're on our own. Do we have, is it, are you doing all through today? Perfect, come on up. Thank you. Then he's gonna come and play some music and I want you guys, I'm gonna say just a few lines, I'm gonna leave it at this. Fear is the opposite of faith. I need you to hear me. That's why Jesus says fear not just belief because fear is the opposite of faith. Are you ready for something creepy? Fear is actually faith in the enemy. Isn't it? Because you're believing that what he says is more true than what God says and that what he can do and will do is stronger than what God can do? They're opposites. Fear puts more faith in the power of more faith in the power of our circumstances, this world, ourselves and ultimately the enemy. Whereas faith hopes, trusts and believes in God's power and our position with him. I don't know where you're at, but part of why I said this is I've seen a lot of weirdness in the world lately, right? We're in that crazy time with the election and the world feels like right about it to be on war. Every day they tell you World War III is gonna start tomorrow, right? And the crazy thing is nothing we can do to stop that. In fact, guys, he told us it's gonna get worse before it gets better, but I wanna say this, I also think in this church, I love you guys a lot, but what I'm seeing a lot is biting. I'm seeing a lot of people snapping and biting and justifying and like one of the things that I love about you people as a church is you are a beautiful, loving people and you serve so well. Like I've never been around a church in my life that serves the way this church serves, but I've started to see us change a little bit. We've started to pull away and blame other people and justify them and what's creepy is it becomes godly. We put on this painting or the clothing of godliness so that nobody can question it. What that tells me, and I know a lot of you, I'm very thankful to know your life is you're actually very fearful. And slowly what's happening is your fear is causing you to put faith in yourself. And if faith's in yourself, then whoa, I gotta worry about myself, I can't worry about serving you, taking care of you, loving you, giving, doing what I'm supposed to do because I'm too busy trying to hold up my own kingdom which you ain't even good at. Where's our heart? Where's your heart? Where's your focus? Is it on the fear? Is it on your circumstances? Is it on what might happen? Or is it on God? And listen, you know it, that's a beautiful thing. Sometimes I spend a lot of my time talking to the non-believers in the room because I remember being you. But I wanna talk to you today, I don't need to convince you that Jesus is real, you know it, so what I wanna remind you is is that he's in control, he loves you, even you. First real people, young people, old people, in between people, he loves you. And I'm with you, let's continue to remember that he said he's going away, he did that. He told us he gives us a spirit to remind us of who he is, he does that through his word and remind us of what he did in to teach us and what did he say, said in the meantime, follow me, trust me, believe and obey love. If you love me, you'll do what I command, right? It doesn't mean that he's gonna let go of us, but if you love me, if you trust me, you're gonna do what I command and guess what's gonna happen? I'm coming back and all of this is gonna be proven to be worth it, that I made my promise and I kept my promise, hold on because I'm coming. But in the meantime, love each other. And if you love each other, the world will know your mind, not by your fake religion, not by any of these other things, it will know by how well you love each other, by how much your faith dictates your life over your fear because the world's gonna run around, say the sky's falling, we're gonna run around and say, we know who set the sky. I don't know where you're at today, are you afraid? Are you anxious, nervous, worried? All, they're all just different shades of the same color of fear. What are you afraid of? What's the thing that goes bump in the night in your life right now? That you are of allowed to scare you into doubting, to taking into control, to acting in ways that you know aren't right and don't lead to peace. What is it in your life? Today, make a declaration during this time, this altar time, talk to the Lord, it's real. Every time I stop running and I come to Him, man, that peace that transcends understanding, how weird is it He read that verse? I almost read that one. I hope you listen at the beginning where He said, right? Present your prayers and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will fall upon you. He understands, He relates, trust Him, believe, be bold in asking for what you need and in the meantime as you wait for Him to answer your prayer, obey Him. Trust Him, walk with Him. If you're in the room and you don't know Jesus, the bottom line is you're very afraid because nothing in this world is ever gonna fill the hole that was made to be filled with God. Yeah, you went to church, you know who God is, but you don't know Him. We sinned, you sinned and because of that we're separated, you can't take a perfectly holy good God and a sinful thing and put Him together because that holy good God would not be perfectly holy anymore, it's the mud ball and the snowball and the winner, I'll bring that in, right? I touch a mud ball to a snowball, is the snowball white anymore? No, so because of that, God is not going to become sinful just to be with us. That wouldn't be holy, but what He does offer you today is the chance to make you clean so you can be with Him. All the things you're running to don't fill you, all the things you try to do to make yourself feel safe, you still feel afraid, here today is an opportunity, a divine appointment that God made for you while I've been here 12 times, I get it. Today is another chance, how much must He love you to tell you the same thing, come home. Stop doubting, stop arguing, stop chasing things that lead to death, Jesus Christ is God made flesh, God sent His only Son down into this earth to teach us, to show us, to prove who He was, He lived a perfect life, He died on the cross for you are my sin so that our mud, He traded places, He took all of our mud and gave us all of His spotless clean white snowball life so that we can be with the Father again and then He raised Himself, right? He was raised from the dead to prove that He is exactly who He said He was 'cause you know we're gonna doubt, so He's gotta do something no one's ever done before. The Bible says if you believe, confess with your lips and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and was raised from the dead, you will be saved, you don't have to know all the answers, stop putting your faith in your dad's faith, your mom's faith in the failings of your parents and the failings of your friends and put your faith in Jesus because He's real and that little voice in your head that says is it? I think it might be, and then you hear the other one that's telling you it's a lie, listen to the voice that once good for you, that once eternal life for you, whatever you do, don't leave the same as you came in. There's gonna be people here willing to pray with you, take advantage of that, don't leave the same as you came in because if you do, you're choosing to. (gentle music)